


Writing on the wall

by archerdpg



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angry Din Djarin, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Din Djarin can't read, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Good Parent Din Djarin, Grogu | Baby Yoda Being a Little Shit, Grogu | Baby Yoda Needs a Hug, No use of y/n, Not Beta Read, Protective Din Djarin, Slow Burn, daddy din djarin, reader has trauma, reader is not ready
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:53:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28714587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archerdpg/pseuds/archerdpg
Summary: “So it’s Din Djarin, right?”His reaction is instant. He whips around and has you pinned against the wall of the ship in a matter of seconds. He has one arm pushing on your chest and the other gripping your arms behind your back. You gasp at the sudden contact and realise the intense danger that you are potentially in, and your heartbeat skyrockets. He uses the arm pressed against your chest to lift you from the ground, and you start kicking frantically.“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!” The Mandalorian yells through the thick helmet. The close proximity meant that you could almost hear his normal voice underneath the modulator. You splutter, still trying to escape his grasp.A saucy fic where Reader is a language expert and Mando can't read.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Reader, Din Djarin/You
Comments: 14
Kudos: 154





	1. 1

You glower at your captor. You’re going to tear the skin off his flesh the next time he crosses your path. You cry out as the restriction on your midsection tightens.  
You cry out, “YOU’RE GONNA REGRET THIS!”

“Regret what! You asked for this!” Cobb Vanth replied, slightly winded from having to fireman carry you on his shoulder. You keep trying to wriggle out of this grasp, but he grips you even tighter.

“But it’s not fair! When I said that I wanted a job, I meant here! On Tatooine! Not out in space on some rinky-dink spaceship.” You finally give up your useless fight and collapse, your chin hitting his shoulder blade. From this angle you can see the dust being kicked up from the speeder, despite it not going very fast.

“Trust me, this job is perfect for you. You get to travel all over the place, have adventures, and you get to put your language skills to the test. Plus, I think you’re going to like one of your colleagues.”

“What? Wait- No- Do you mean that weird tin can man?” The Marshal chuckled, his guffaw almost causing you to get thrown off the speeder.

You remember the last time that this guy had come to town. It was only a few months ago, but it caused a horrendous uproar. This guy, obviously from off-planet, comes crashing in, demanding that the Marshal give up his precious armour, and then does a full 180 and slays the Krayt dragon for us. To be honest, as much as you don’t exactly like the guy, you were appreciative of that, because it meant that you finally could have some peace of mind. Not having the fear that every time you step into the hot desert you’ll accidentally fall into the jaws of the awaiting beast was very liberating. Before, you used to confine yourself inside your small hut, tending to your various animals, dedicating yourself to your studies, but ever since the dragon was slayed, you’ve become more outgoing, more social. You discovered that what you initially thought was a dank and dreary town in the middle of nowhere was actually a bustling community full of characters. Because of the dragon slaying, you met Cobb Vanth, or “The Marshal” as he likes to call himself. And now, because of the tin man, you’re being dragged away from your comfort zone and thrown into literally your worst nightmare.

You spit and splutter as some of the dust gets into your eyes. You try and wipe it away with your sleeve, but it only irritates them more. By the time you manage to open your eyes again, buildings and metal huts are whizzing by you. You realise that you’ve must’ve reached Mos Eisley now. Finally.

The speeder starts to grind to a halt when it passes through a gate, and you see other ships and cruisers. Unfortunately, the Marshal severely underestimated how much drift to give the bike, and the force of the sudden stop sends you flying off the front of the bike and you land square on your ass, knocking you down. Pain reverberated throughout your body, and you rolled onto your side.

The Marshal jumped off the bike and rushed to your side. “Are you okay?”

“I think you just broke my ass.” You said through gritted teeth.

He chuckled and slapped you on the shoulder in a friendly way. Unfortunately, that hurt you even more. 

You hear footsteps approach from behind you, as well as the telltale clanking of one of those weird little droids. 

“Hey Peli, I know you have some ice packs back there somewhere. You mind lending me one? Cobb just broke my ass. “ 

“Peli’s busy.”

Your eyes shoot open. That is not Peli.  
You look up and see Cobb Vanth smiling wickedly at you. Confused, you continue turning around and then you gulp.

Standing behind you is The Mandalorian himself. He towers over you, his gleaning metal helmet looking down at you. His entire body was decked out in pure shiny beskar, forcing you to squint slightly as it reflects the sun. He’s got one hand on his blaster and his other hanging leisurely at his side. His cape flickers subtly in the soft wind.  
That is definitely not Peli.

You were a least right about those weird little droids, which appear from behind him and rush over to the speeder, looking for any damage.  
Your throat is dry. What do you say? You suddenly realise what you just said and your current position on the floor. You blush as you scramble up to stand before him, wiping off all the dust that accumulated on your clothes.  
Vanth clasps your shoulders eagerly.  
“I would like to introduce you to your new boss.” You pale.

The Mandalorian’s helmet methodically turns to Vanth’s position.  
“This is who you’ve brought me?” He says, his gruff voice mixing with the modulator. You marvel at it, and barely process the thinly-veiled insult he just sent you.

“I know what you’re thinking Mando, but trust me. She is perfect for you. She’s got the exact skills you require.” Vanth introduces you. 

You snap out of your trance. “‘Exact skills’? What skills?”

The Mandalorian turns to face you. “Did he not tell you why you’re here?” You were taken aback by him addressing you directly. 

“It was , ‘Pack your shit and get on the speeder’ kinda vibe.” You heard a slight laugh from Vanth next to you, but got absolutely no response from the stoic man in front of you.

Note to self: Vanth laughs too much, and The Mandalorian never laughs.

There were noises behind The Mandalorian, and Peli emerged from her workshop with something strapped to her chest.

“I finally rotated that thing inside your standers, as well as fixed your fuel leak. Again. The things I do for you Mando I swear I-“ Peli blinked when she saw you, but a smile quickly rose to her lips.

“Oh my days, I haven’t seen you in forever! How are you settling in to Mos Pelgo? I’ve heard rumours that you’re actually going outside and not cramped up in your little hut anymore!” Peli approaches you.

“Ha Ha. And yes, I have been going outside, now that that damned dragon is gone.” You side-eye the Mandalorian to see any reaction, but it seems like he barely registered it. 

You went to hug Peli but she stopped you, pointing to the huge wrap around her chest.  
“I’ll hug you later darlin, just don’t wanna squish this poor little fella.”

You peer into the sling and see a small green head pop out, it’s bright eyes peering up at you and gigantic ears perking up/ Your eyes widen as it gurgles. 

“That might be the cutest thing that I have ever seen.” You gasp, stars in your eyes. You smile brightly as you reach out to it with a finger, and it’s tiny hand claps around your finger. You melt. 

Peli undid the wrap around it and set it on the floor, where it wobbled for a few seconds before it started hobbling away.  
“I’m sure glad you like it. Cause you’re gonna be seeing a whole lot of it.”  
You watch as the child approaches the Mandalorian without fear. To your utter surprise, the Mandalorian reaches down and picks up the child, placing it inside a small shoulder bag. You were gobsmacked. 

“That’s yours?! How on earth did that come out of you?!” You were very confused. 

“I found him.” The Mandalorian replied before suddenly moving around the group towards his ship. He stopped in front of the bulkhead and inspected it. You could still faintly hear the child’s coos. 

“Now. The droids have already put your bags onto his ship. “ said Peli. “Have you got everything? Do you need anything else?”

“I packed everything I own.” You replied sheepishly. “Vanth never told me how long this job was going to be.”

“Probably better to bring everything. Now,” Peli took you by the hands, “be safe. You’re probably going to run into trouble at some point so promise me that you’ll be safe.”

“I promise.” You roll your eyes. 

“Good. And also,” she turned to look over her shoulder and then lowered her words to a whisper,”be wary. I’ve never been able to get a full read on this guy, so be on your toes.”

You looked over her shoulder at the Mandalorian, you had finished inspecting the bulkhead and was now climbing the gangway. You pondered for a second until Peli pulled you into a bone-crushing hug. 

“Don’t go dying on me now. Not after all the money I spent on you.” You laughed in her embrace. 

Suddenly, the loud roar of engine reverberated throughout the hangar, and you looked up at the ship. The gangway was still down but you deduced that this was how the Mandalorian was signalling that it was time to go. You kiss Peli on the cheek before you start running to the door. On the way you wave back at Vanth, who’s already on his speeder. He waved back and shouted “Good luck!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo so yeah im jsut as much in love with the mandalorian as everybody else so heres a little somethign that i cant get outta me head. din cant read and has nothin else much goin on up there, tis just worms.
> 
> gonna try and update this as much as i can while the shows still hot


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no seatbelts in the cockpit

You ran up the gangway and into the dark ship, the gangway lifting as soon as you step off it. You lose your footing as the shop lurches off of the ground. You grab the nearest structure that you can trust and hold on to dear life. This was always the worst bit about starship flying, and your anxiety only got worse knowing how much of a piece of shit this starship was.   
The engines rumble underneath you as the starship keeps rising into the air. You wished that there was a single window in this hull so you could see the ground fading away, maybe wave goodbye.   
Surprisingly, the ship stabilises, and starts floating in mid air, stationary. You grip the wall, waiting for the dreadful jump to hyperdrive, but it never comes.  
Suddenly, the onboard system crackles to life.

“What are you doing?” 

You blink, the booming voice of the Mandalorian is coming from all around you.

“Uhh...hanging on?” You answer, not fully understanding why he is asking you this. 

“Come to the cockpit.” The system crackles away. You feel the impression that you’re getting bossed around. You huff and let go of your stability wall and carefully waddle your way towards what you hope is the direction of the cockpit. You find a pressurised door and you open it. The view that greets you is the vast inky blackness of space, and you gulp. You look down and you see the cramped space which apparently is the cockpit. The Mandalorian is sitting in the front chair, commanding the ship, and the Child is sitting on the only other chair to your right. It gurgles as it looks up at you, a small ball in its clutches.

“You’ll need to hold him.” He says, not looking at you as he flicks switches on the ceiling. 

“Um...okay.” You say as you reach down and pick up the small gremlin. You sit down in his place and look for the seatbelt.

“Uhh...there’s no seatbelt?” 

“Hold on.”  
Your anxiety skyrockets as you watch him reach for the hyperdrive throttle and tug it down violently. You grip the legs of the chair with your legs as the ship lurches forward and zooms into the horizon. You feel your stomach reach your throat as your forced into this new speed. You feel the Child wriggling in your hands, apparently he was loving this.  
The ship finally stabilises inside hyperspace, and you take several deep breaths. The Child wriggles out of your grasp and wanders away. 

“Not a fan of flying?”

You look up and you see the helmet turned towards you. You yet again feel a little taken aback by the intense stare, but you hold your ground.

“I never really got used to it.” You chuckle. The Mandalorian turns away. There is silence for a while, except for the occasional beeping from the ship, and you muster the courage to ask.

“So uh,” you say, “Question. Why am I here?” 

The Mandalorian turns back to you. “Did Vanth really not tell you anything?”

You chuckle. “You probably think I’m crazy for getting on this ship with a stranger.”

“No.” He immediately answers. He turns back to the console. “We’ve met before.”

You laugh, thinking it’s a joke, but the Mandalorian does not laugh, so you quickly stop.

“So what’s the deal, huh? Why am I here?” 

“Vanth said you were good at languages. I needed an interpreter.” He answers coolly.

“An interpreter? How come a Mandalorian needs an interpreter?” You question.

“My latest bounty is located on a foreign planet. I can’t understand them.”

You slap your forehead. Why else would someone need an interpreter, idiot!   
“Oh, of course.”

The Mandalorian suddenly rises to his feet. “The ship will steer to the planet.” He opens the pressurised doors and leaves the cockpit. After doing a lot of brain wrestling, you decide to follow him. To your surprise, the Child is already in the hangar, sitting in some kind of floating pod. The Mandalorian emerges from a dark corner, carrying a small wooden bowl and spoon. You almost laugh out loud because of the way that the tiny bowl looks like in his gigantic hands.  
He sits down next to the Child, Beskar clinking and scratching the metal surface of the crate he was sitting on. He lifts the spoon to the Child’s mouth, but the Child refuses to open.   
“Come on...You need to eat.” he says at a low, calming whisper, and you suddenly realise this a moment that you are not meant to be involved in.  
You realise its too late when the Child raises its head and smiles at you, reaching out his arms and making grabby hands. The Mandalorian looks up at you.   
“I think he likes you.” He says.  
You smile nervously. “Most kids do.”  
He looks back at the Child and tries again to feed it, but this time it goes further because the Child slaps the spoon out of his hand, soup flying everywhere.  
The Mandalorian barely reacts, but by the way his hand clenches around the bowl, you could tell that he wasn’t exactly thrilled.  
You bend down and pick up the fallen spoon.  
“Can I try?”   
The Mandalorian looks up at you, and theres a moment where you swear you can see the cogs ticking away in his brain. Eventually, he nods and slowly passes you the bowl. He shoves over on the crate so you can sit beside the Child, and you suddenly find yourself wedged between him and the Child.  
Trying to ignore the deep warmth of his thigh pressing against yours, you raise the spoon to the Child’s mouth, and the Child happily eats it, tapping its little feet as it does.  
You hear The Mandalorian huff next to you, and you wonder if that’s his version of an eyeroll.  
You feed the Child for a few minutes, before the Child seems content and looking rather sleepy. The Mandalorian gets up and picks up the Child.  
As he’s leaning down, you get a flash of some etchings on the back of his helmet. At first glance, they appear to be words in Mando’a. You instantly realise what the words mean and say.  
The Mandalorian walks away from you and puts the Child in a cubby hole in the back of the ship, wrapping it in blankets and closing the door. The Mandalorian is walking past you and back to the cockpit but stops dead in his tracks when he hears you say:

“So it’s Din Djarin, right?”

His reaction is instant. He whips around and has you pinned against the wall of the ship in a matter of seconds. He has one arm pushing on your chest and the other gripping your arms behind your back. You gasp at the sudden contact and realise the intense danger that you are potentially in, and your heartbeat skyrockets. He uses the arm pressed against your chest to lift you from the ground, and you start kicking frantically.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!” The Mandalorian yells through the thick helmet. The close proximity meant that you could almost hear his normal voice underneath the modulator. You splutter, still trying to escape his grasp.

“WHERE DID YOU HEAR IT?!” He drops you, and you almost have a moment of peace before the arm that was pushing against your chest was suddenly enclosed around your throat, constricting your airflow. You grapple at his grasp, taking as many breaths as you can.

“You……..please……..can’t breathe………..shit…….” you gasp in between desperate breaths.

He releases his grasp slightly but increases the hold on your hands, his leather gloves searing into your skin and you grit your teeth in pain.

“TELL ME!” He screams.

“IT’S WRITTEN ON YOUR HELMET!” You scream back. The Mandalorian is suddenly very still, his grip just slack enough for you to weave your hands out of it. You grip the wall behind you.  
“It’s on the back. Written in Mando’a.”

The Mandalorian is stock still. Did he not know it was there?

The Mandalorian quickly backs away from you and makes a beeline for the cockpit, leaving you alone in the hangar.  
You rub your wrists as you ponder what just happened. And why you liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooooooooo things are gettin a little saucy if i do say so myself. this is my first time trying to write anything violent/seggsy so pls give ffedback on what i can improve for when i get ot the actual seggsy time <3


	3. 3

It had been a tense few days on the Razor Crest. Ever since your encounter in the hangar, you felt like the air contained within the small ship had suddenly become heavy and stale. You wished you could escape it, but the only other option is the absence of air outside the ship, so you stay.

Your interactions with The Mandalorian are scarce and far between. He has seemed to make it his mission to avoid you like the plague. Whenever it would be meal times, he would give the food to you and take the child to the cockpit, leaving you alone to eat in the hangar. You would sometimes bump into him near the fresher or the cockpit, but he would quickly pass you before you could make any conversation. 

Because of this lack of communication, you still do not know where you are going.   
All you know is that The Mandalorian needs you for your language skills. You try and read the coordinates set into the hyperdrive to determine which planet you are going to, and what language you need to brush up in, but you have no idea what those funky little numbers mean, so you give up and go back to re-reading the pages about Mando’a in your books. You’ve taken a particular interest in them as of late, an interest that absolutely has nothing to do with the silent man upstairs. 

After about 3 days of flying, you’re sitting on a pile of junk in the hangar, scribing some Aurebesh into a small diary. You figure that whatever planet you’re going to must use the same writing language as the rest of the galaxy.  
You feel the ship jitter and jolt, which causes your pen to slide and ruin the entire page with a giant streak mark. You groan and drop the pen uselessly. After the past few days, you’re convinced that The Mandalorian has no idea how to fly this useless piece of junk. 

You pick the pen up again to restart your writing, but the ship makes a giant lurch again, and you cry out in frustration. Don’t they teach flying at Mandalorian school? Wait, do Mandalorians go to school? 

You suddenly feel a strange rumbling beneath you, like pistons releasing and lowering something. You gasp when you realise that that must be the landing gear. You’re finally here.

You swing off the junk and race towards the cockpit. You burst through the piston doors and stop dead in your tracks. You forgot who your travel companion was. He is sitting in the captain’s chair, his helmet turned towards you. You gulp. 

“I heard the landing gear.” You say, sheepishly. He silently turns back to the console. You look up and out the window and you are faced with an endless rocky mountain plain, scattered with greenery and low lying mist. The ship is approaching a large town, with figures roaming about. 

He speaks his first words to you in what feels like forever. “We are on Ryloth.”

This sends your mind into overdrive, trying to determine what the native species is and trying to associate them with a language.   
The Mandalorian looks back at you and you understand that he is asking you a silent question. You look down at him and smile. 

“You’re lucky that I just so happened to brush up on my Twi’leki yesterday.” You say, smugly. He nods and turns back to the controls. You watch as the ship descends into a hangar, and droids race up and eagerly wait.

You turn to exit but you feel a sudden force on your arm. You turn and find The Mandalorian gripping it from where he is sitting. You try and wrench your arm from his grasp, but he only grips tighter.

“Is this what you do? You go around grabbing people and giving them bruises?” You say through gritted teeth, still trying to free your arm. He ignores your jibe.

“You call me The Mandalorian or Mando.” 

“Uh...yeah?” You’re confused. Is this about the other day?

“You are to NEVER call me that again.” He says darkly.

“What, Din?” 

He violently rises from his chair and you instinctively raise your hands in front of you, his hand still attached to your arm. He pulls his hand away quickly and stands there stiffly, his fists clenched tightly. 

You lower your hands slowly. His helmet is pointing somewhere over your shoulder, and you imagine that he’s trying not to meet your eyes. You’re even more confused now. His helmet lowers and you follow his gaze to your arm. After the other day, you know that under your long sleeve there is a huge purple bruise right where he is staring. You watch as his hand moves minutely, almost as if to touch the spot, but his arm retracts as if magnetized to his armour. 

“You are never to call me that name.” He says, thickly. You nod, words escaping you right now. You can’t get a read on this situation at all. It started so casually but now has ended up where you can’t tell if he’s commanding you or if this is his strange way of apologising.

His helmet rises to your face, almost pondering your expression for a second, before he makes the move to walk out the door. You let out the breath you didn’t realise you were holding in, only to suck in again when you hear him talk from the door.

“I’m sorry for hurting you... It was just instinct.” His back is facing you, one arm gripping the side of the door. You turn your head to his direction. His posture was rigid, unmoving. From this angle you could see those forbidden words etched on his helmet, almost ironically illuminated by the sun.

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have-” you start to say but you’re interrupted.

“No.” His hand flexes on the door, leather gloves squeaking. “You didn’t know. It’s not your fault. I’m just…” He sighs, his posture relaxing, like something broke inside him, finally letting down the walls. “When we’re in the market I’ll pick up some ointment for you.”

And with that, he left the cockpit in a billow of cape, leaving you standing there, wondering what the fuck just happened. That was definitely an apology right? The Mandalorian definitely just apologised to you. 

You run your hands over your face, trying to rub off the tension that’s coiled within you. You shake your head and hands, trying to ground yourself in reality again. When you finally feel like you can face the world again, you leave the cockpit.

As you walk down the corridor towards the hangar, you gently rub the bruise on your arm, remembering that tiny movement he made. You can’t help but wonder what it would feel like for him to touch you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huh? mr mando bein nice??? crazy
> 
> thANK you everyone who left such positive comments on the last chapters, they made me very excited and motivated to write more. I will warn that i've never really done this before, like continually wrote, so i'm trying to write a bit everyday.
> 
> also im leaning so much about star wars im trying to keep everything as canon as possible


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finally get to fulfil your role as interpreter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW this chapter contains a panic attack

You’re still trying to digest what just happened when you arrive in the hangar. You’re just the nick of time for Mando to lower the blast doors. You see that the Child has already been put in his pod, which is currently floating next to Mando. You race to catch up, just as the door hits the grassy earth of the planet.

Mando starts to trudge out of the ship, his huge boots echoing off the metal surface. As he reaches the end, the droids you saw earlier start to approach the ship, their tools at the ready. Mando whips his helmet towards them. The droids suddenly stop in their tracks, frozen under his stare, and they start to back off, their small metal bodies shaking. You shiver when you imagine what it must feel like to be under that stare.  
“Got something against droids?” You joke, looking as the poor bastards run for their lives as soon as Mando releases them from his gaze.

“Yes.” He says, point blank.

“Oh.” You say, not actually expecting that straight forward of an answer. You look ahead and see two people approaching the ship from outside the hangar. Even from this far away, you could tell that they are Twi’lek, just from the extravagant lekku hanging over their shoulders. You gulp.

“You know, despite knowing a vast number of languages, I’ve never actually met anyone else that speaks the languages.” You lean over and whisper. You quickly back away as he turns to you, scared that he’s going to use that same death stare on you. But he only silently stares at you, almost as if he’s frowning at you. 

“Well you’re about to get some practice in.”

He turns to the approaching couple just as they arrive at the ship. They reach out and clasp his hands in a friendly greeting, and they say something in a foreign language as they smile brilliantly. There’s an awkward silence of nobody saying anything, and you’re not sure what’s happening. Mando’s head turns towards yours slowly.

Oh my fucking god. You’re the interpreter. You idiot. The literal reason why you’re on this fucking adventure to begin with and you’ve already failed. You buffoon. He’s going to chuck you out of the ship when he passes over the next parsec. You absolute-

Mando clears his throat. You snap yourself out of your little bout of self-depreciation and jump into your role.

You approach the conversation and say in Twi’lekki: “Hello. I am the interpreter for The Mandalorian. Can you repeat what you just said?”

The couple look at you strangely at first, but then they nod their head in understanding. They repeat their sentence, which turns out just to be welcoming Mando to the planet. 

“My name is Nar’ven and this is my sister Qui’la. We are the ones that requested for the Mandalorian.” The male Twi’lek says, and you quickly translate for Mando, who nods. 

“Ask them what the bounty is.” You nod and turn to translate but Mando quickly interjects, “And make sure to just get the bounty’s name and where they were last seen. I don’t want to hear why they want them dead, I want to get out of here as soon as possible.” You’re confused but you still turn to the clients, who are looking at you expectantly.

“The Mandalorian wants to know who the bounty is and where to find them.” You say, omitting certain things. 

“Your target is our brother, Tin’dryl. At least he was our brother, before he betrayed us. He sold our mother into the slave trade, and broke our families ancient laws and codes. He disrespected our heritage and he deserves to die. When we were young he-”

During Nar’ven’s speech, you hear Mando roll his head back and sigh deeply. Despite it being in a different language, Mando knew that Nar’ven was telling you his whole life’s story. You snort at Mando’s reaction but quickly stop yourself when you realise that Nar’ven is still talking to you.

“-and that was the last place that we saw him. And we never wish to see him again.” You notice that Qui’la has started quietly sobbing, obviously affected by her brother’s words, and now you feel really bad for not paying attention.

“I’m sorry...Not good with the language yet. Could you repeat where you last saw him?” You ask, cursing the Mandalorian in your head for ruining your first interaction with these people. 

Nar’ven looked at you strangely, but repeated his last sentence. You nod and turn to Mando, whose head has returned to his normal position and was looking at you intently.

“The bounty is their brother Twi’lek, who was last seen fleeing the city on a speeder, towards the north. They think he’s heading towards a popular intergalactic casino.”

Mando nods his head, and turns to him. 

“I’ll have him in carbonite by the end of the moon cycle.” You quickly translate, and they nod at Mando solemnly. 

After they leave, you turn to Mando, who’s already heading back inside the ship. You go to follow him but he holds out his hand, stopping you.

“No. Wait here.” Mando walks up the gangway, leaving you confused. Aren’t we flying there? 

You play with the Child while you wait for Mando. The strange green goblin is quite enamoured with a stick that you picked off the floor. You dangle it over his head as he gleefully tries to reach it with his grubby little hands. 

You start to think about The Mandalorian, as you tend to find yourself doing these days. You think about earlier in the cockpit, that specific moment where you felt like something changed within him. Did anything actually change, or is this another moment where he’s going to abandon you for days on end again. You snort and think that there’s probably nothing else he would like more to do than to get in his ship and fly away without you and-

You start. Without thinking you drop the stick and run inside, the pod speeding next to you. That last thought wraps around your brain, that he’s going to fly off and abandon you on this planet. He’s going to leave you here, alone. You reach the hangar and desperately look around, looking for that glint of baskar. You start to hyperventilate. He can’t just abandon you? Can he? He can. He would.   
You scramble over your thoughts, too many happening at once. Your eyes are screwed shut and your hands claw at your scalp. He’s going to leave. Just like they did. It’s happening again, they’re leaving and-

You feel a strong pressure on your upper arms, gripping tightly. You don’t know what it is and it scares you, so you try desperately to wriggle out of its hold. You hear something far away yell your name, but it’s so distant that you ignore it, it can’t be about you. Your hands gripping your head is starting to hurt, and you feel cold liquid run down your face. 

The pressure on your arms disappears and is replaced by an all encompassing pressure around your arms and chest. You’re being pressed against something hard, smooth and cold. It almost feels comforting, and grounding. As you're pressed against the cold, your mind starts to calm, racing thoughts lowering, your panic subsiding. You feel calm and relaxed. When you eventually open your eyes, you realise that the liquid that was on your face was actually tears, and the cool pressure is actually baskar armour, the chestplate to be exact.

You tense up. Are you...Are you getting hugged by the Mandalorian? 

You slowly look up, and your suspicions are confirmed by the giant silver helmet looking over you. From this angle, you could almost see a tiny sliver of skin under his helmet. 

You’re unsure of what to do at this moment. What are you meant to do when you suddenly get hugged by The Mandalorian.

“Um….hi?” You say, dumbly. 

His helmet whips down to look at you. His arms around your back quickly move, and he releases you from his embrace, but keeps his hands on your upper arms.

“Are you okay? What was that? How did it happen? Are you alright?” He demands.

You’re stunned silent. He almost sounds...worried?

“I’m….I’m okay now. Thank you.” You say softly, still stunned. 

“What happened? You were just standing there frozen. I shouted your name but you didn’t respond?”

“Sorry I just...I’m not very responsive when I get like that.” You smile, trying to lighten the mood.

“Get like what? What happened to you?!” You swear you could feel his gaze on you, even with the helmet between you.

You open your mouth to talk, but no word escapes your lips. You’ve never really been able to talk about this with anyone, let alone him. So you end up just closing it again, and looking off to the side. You break away from his grip.

You hear him sigh, and you look up. His arms are still outstretched, but are lower.

“Okay. I understand. You can’t talk about it. But...let me know when you can. It was...hard...seeing you like that.” The Mandalorian spoke softly. 

You stare wide-eyed as you nod. What on earth is going on today? The Mandalorian seems like a completely different person to the one you left Tatooine with. 

“Are you sure you’re okay now?” He asks.

You sniffle and wipe your nose. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m okay.” You reassure yourself. You can do this. 

The Mandalorian moves to lean behind him, and pulls out an old rag from some part of the ship. He tries to hand it to you. You look at it, quizzically.

“What’s that?” 

“It’s a handkerchief. For your nose.” He says, gesturing for you to take it. You look down. The ‘handkerchief’ was covered in grease stains and oil. 

“You want me to wipe my nose...with that?” You question, looking at the rag in disgust.

He looks down at the rag, and back up at you. “You make a good point.” he says, and throws the rag randomly behind him.

You laugh, “At least you’re making an effort.” 

You hear the most peculiar sound from his modulator. Almost a short intake of breath, almost like….a chuckle? A laugh?

You both sit there in silence for a few moments. A comfortable silence, excluding the random gurgles and burbles from the Child, who you honestly forgot was there.

You decide to break the silence. “So...how are we getting to the casino?”

The Mandalorian looks at you, and you swear on your life that he is smirking behind that helmet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhhhhh yeah that happened. sorry this chapter took a hot sec to get out ive been dealing with some shit irl, but wiritng a bit of this every night helps. lemme know how you felt about this chapter and where do you think the story is going? 
> 
> i promise hot seggsy times are on their way

**Author's Note:**

> heyo so yeah im jsut as much in love with the mandalorian as everybody else so heres a little somethign that i cant get outta me head. din cant read and has nothin else much goin on up there, tis just worms.
> 
> gonna try and update this as much as i can while the shows still hot


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